Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Tuesday, Aug. 31. I’m Jeanette Marantos, a features writer for The Times’ Lifestyle section, and I mostly write about plants, landscapes and gardening.
These days, with predictions of excessive heat into October, it feels like the only real harbinger of fall is coffee shops trumpeting the return of pumpkin spice lattes. (Bleah.) But once upon a time in Southern California, there was a kind and mellow month named September, which like its sister month, June, was known for its gentle disposition.
In those days, September was a shoulder month, a pleasant transition between the heat of summer and winter’s damp chill. It seemed like school always started after Labor Day and we could wear our new fall clothes without too much discomfort because, in those days, September usually had a little chill in the air and not triple-digit temps.
For gardeners, September started our gloating time. Unlike in other parts of the country where people were preparing for cold and snow, SoCal gardeners could welcome a whole new growing season for cool-weather crops like leafy greens, broccoli and peas that flourished in our mild, wet winters. September was the perfect time to start seeds and plant tender seedlings for harvests starting as early as Thanksgiving.
Lest you think this is a fairy tale, I offer you the writings of Yvonne Savio, who ran L.A. County’s master gardener program for 25 years and has been gardening in Pasadena for nearly 60. This is how she describes September in her monthly list of gardening tips on her comprehensive website, Gardening in L.A.:
“September’s mildness makes just about any gardening tasks pleasant. The soil and air are warm but not overly hot. Fresh summer produce is still delicious, but production is slowing down.... Seeds and transplants of cool-weather-hardy crops can be planted now for harvests from fall through early spring.”
It’s advice Savio has given for years, but amid heat waves, drought, watering restrictions and — for many Angelenos — an absolute ban on outdoor watering from Sept. 6 to 20 to repair a leaky pipe, she’s planning an update.
“I’m saying now that gardeners should wait to plant until late October or November, because it’s just staying hot longer,” she told me last week. “It isn’t like it starts to rain around the first part of November anymore. Because of climate change, we’ve got to readjust. [The planting season’s] getting pushed forward by at least a month because of the high temperatures, and who knowswhat the water is going to do.”
It’s worrisome, considering that June, once the other shoulder month between spring’s cool and summer’s heat, has become too hot for successful planting too. “Three years ago, I stopped putting in my second big crop of tomatoes in June,” Savio said. “Because of the heat, I could not get my transplants sufficiently established to give me a decent crop, even with me pouring water on it. It was too much of a struggle.”
I’ll be writing about Savio’s recalibrated tips for fall gardeners later this week in The Times’ Lifestyle section, as part of my monthly roundup of upcoming gardening events. Give us a look when you have a chance. (Here’s one sneak peek: The California Botanic Garden in Claremont is offering a $20 lawn removal class on Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m.)
This is my last day of filling in on the Essential California newsletter, but it’s been fun sharing my passion for plants. Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment